After a gorgeous evening at Thoreau Campsite on Eagle Lake we awoke to a calm, beautiful morning and delicious breakfast of eggs and home fries. The group did a great job of breaking down camp and loading the canoes in preparation for the 12 miles of paddling to Scofield Point on Churchill Lake. Our first stop before heading to Scofield Point is always the historic Ghost Trains. Two 30+ ton steam engines used in the 1920's to move logs from Eagle Lake into Chamberlain Lake in order to move them into the Penobscot watershed heading south to Bangor. The trains replaced the older, more primitive manually powered tramway that was used for the same purpose. Eagle Lake flows north as part of the Allagash watershed, as did Chamberlain and Telos Lakes, until a group of visionaries blasted a trench at the low point of Telos Lake (which is connected to Chamberlain Lake) into Webster Lake, the head of the East Branch Penobscot watershed. This changed the flow of Allagash Lake, Chamberlain Lake, and Telos Lake from north as part of the Allagash watershed, south into the Penobscot watershed in order to move logs to Bangor. An incredible feat of engineering, forever changing the landscape of the Allagash waterway.
What was a calm morning quickly turned into a very windy one, of course just as we load up and shove the canoes off. What is normally a nice leisurely two mile paddle over to the Ghost Trains from Thoreau Campsite turned into a bit of an arduous slog. The short trip took just a bit longer than normal, but we all arrived with no problem and spent an hour or so exploring the trains and what is left of the tramway and decayed tramway cars. From the trains the plan was to head the 10 miles up to Scofield Point, where we would set up camp and spend the night. Getting out of the small sluice into the landing spot for the trains proved a bit difficult due to the wind and one of the kids lost his sandal in the sticky mud, causing a bit of a delay as we searched for it. It was quite a comical moment, although a bit hairy fighting the wind. We managed to get everything squared away, got the canoes lined up, and began motoring headlong into the wind north towards Churchill Lake.
After a longer than normal morning fighting the wind, we stopped at Little Eagle Campsite, right at the end of Eagle Lake at the thoroughfare from Eagle Lake, across Round Pond and into Churchill Lake. We enjoyed an incredible view, ate some lunch, and did some fishing off the deep ledge of the site. This spot has a nice deep edge and cool water and a few of the guys managed to land some beautiful native brook trout, one of which we enjoyed for lunch! From here it was another hour or so to Scofield Point, our final destination of day two.
We arrived at Scofield Point in good time, much to the relief of the crew. Scofield Point is a beautiful sandy point reaching out into Churchill Lake like a long curved finger. Wonderful spot to relax, swim, and great views looking north, south, and east. The kids enjoyed the sandy beach and warm water while the adults sat in camp chairs staring at the magnificent view while sipping bourbon and smoking cigars. The kids came back from their afternoon swim to help gather wood for a dinner of steak tips and baked potatoes over the fire. After dinner, a couple of the boys went out to fly fish the calm evening lake and managed a few fallfish on dry flies, an amazing sight to see, teenagers fly fishing from a canoe at sunset in the remote Maine wilderness. No technology, no screens, just friendship and a connection to the wilderness and humankinds primitive roots. The night sky boasted a wide view of stars that can only be seen with no light pollution from nearby cities while listening to the haunting cry of the loon. How does it get any better?
